Artist paints favorite book for Covington book bench project

May 22, 2023

COVINGTON, Ky. – A Covington artist is persuading people, both young and old, to pursue their passions. She's had to go outside of her comfort zone to do so, but taking part in an exclusive public art project confirmed her belief in her own abilities, and is now inspiring others.

Art has always been Gabrielle Siekman's thing, or at least, one of her things.

"I always did art as a kid. My mom was one of those really crafty parents. She was always having different art projects for us, whether it was decorating cookies or going out to the creek and finding rocks that we thought were shaped like certain things. And then we’d all sit down, and we’d all paint our rocks however we wanted to," Siekman said.

Nature naturally became another one of Siekman's things.

"I just love sitting out there and seeing all the bees and butterflies, and I started making a lot of paintings from the critters that I found out in my garden," she said.

Public speaking, however, has never really been her thing.

"I’m a nervous, anxious person. And I do have a little bit of stage fright," she said.

But now, as a teacher, it kind of has to be.

"I figured that translating into teaching and being in front of a crowd, I’d be really nervous, but it's been going a lot more smoothly, and I’ve been a little bit better in front of the crowd," Siekman said.

Siekman teaches art classes at the Baker-Hunt Art and Cultural Center, a job she just started in January. There, she gets to combine her passions and encourages her students to pursue theirs.

"I recommend going after what you love. And making that your life," she said.

Maybe that love of what she does is why Siekman was selected as one of six artists to participate in a community art installation aiming to bring together literacy and artistic expression that was developed by the Kenton County Public Library Foundation.

The artists were tasked with painting their interpretation of books on fiberglass benches in the shape of open books, which will be placed throughout Covington for people to sit and read. Siekman's book of choice, "Where the Crawdads Sing," which features a main character who draws what she finds in nature, was an easy choice for Siekman.

"It's a celebration of nature. She grows up in the marsh, surrounded by all this wildlife. And I really kind of relate to that," she said. "I was just floored to be able to be a part of this. It's really meaningful to think that maybe a kid might see that and get inspired to go outside and try to find all of these different creatures."

Her work did just that at the unveiling event for the benches.

"We thought it would be really cool to see the books really come to life in these benches," said fifth grader Luke Mangus. "I think that they’re amazing. The amount of detail, and how they accurately depict the books, is great."

Just hearing how Mangus was inspired warmed Siekman's heart.

"That's just amazing. I really love that," she said. "I feel like I’m floating on cloud nine. This project was such a fun project to work on."

It turns out that helping others find their thing is kind of her thing, too.

Siekman said she's doing another mural project in Covington. It’ll be her full-time job to convert an alley into a real-life version of a pop-up book.